BEIRUT, 9 May 2005 — Lebanon’s most prominent Christian leader said yesterday he had yet to hear from fellow opposition politicians, signaling deepening splits within the disparate front that helped end Syria’s 29-year military presence.
A day after returning to Lebanon amid scenes of jubilation, Michel Aoun said his allies so far were the tens of thousands of youthful supporters who welcomed him home from a 14-year exile. “Until now I haven’t heard... I assume silence after a certain period means rejection,” Aoun told reporters at his home just outside Beirut, where he received a stream of politicians.
Opposition calls for Syria to leave and Aoun to return mounted after the Feb. 14 killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri plunged Lebanon into its deepest political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.
The opposition, comprising Christians, Druze and Sunni Muslims, was united in blaming Syria and the security agencies it backed for the assassination.
But with the last Syrian soldier leaving Lebanon 12 days ago, splits over the law organizing a general election due to begin in three weeks are pulling the opposition apart.
Aoun has said members of his Free Patriotic Movement will contest the elections, although he has yet to announce any formal political alliances. The Maronite Christian leader has not said if he will run for Parliament, but he has hinted he will consider the presidency.
Parliament met Saturday to review a letter from President Emile Lahoud proposing a change to a law under which the elections between May 29 and June 19 would be held. But the assembly rejected the letter outright and Speaker Nabih Berri adjourned the session without a vote on changing the electoral law, seen favoring pro-Syria candidates.
Druze opposition leader Walid Jumblatt, who supported the Syrian withdrawal but would be well-served by the existing rules, maligned Aoun’s return in the chamber and called on Lahoud to resign.
Aoun rejected calls for Lahoud’s resignation and took a swipe at Jumblatt and some other opposition deputies. “No one can pressure the president to resign. They must wait for the new Parliament,” he said.
“They came under an incorrect law, under occupation and they cannot try anyone when a large part of them need to be tried.”
Aoun’s defeat at the hands of a Syrian-led assault on his powerbase in and around Beirut on Oct. 13, 1990, marked the end of the Lebanese civil war. He sought refuge at the French Embassy before leaving for exile several months later.
But despite his defeat and absence, the popularity of the 70-year-old former general did not fade. He still enjoys support among many Christians who see in him a leader who is not corrupt and who stood up against Syria and Lebanese militias despite the odds. Detractors say his military gambles led to the defeat of the Maronites in the civil war.
Many Maronites say the exile of Aoun and arrest of Christian former warlord Samir Geagea symbolize the targeting of their community by the Syrian-dominated order after the war.
Aoun mended fences with Geagea’s banned Lebanese Forces (LF) yesterday, backing calls for the release of the ex-fighter whom he fought in 1990 for control of the Christian enclave as the war drew to a close.
“We should remember the past and... not make the mistakes that have happened. This past has become part of history and we must look to the future because those who do not look forward fall into the first hole,” he said after receiving Streda Geagea, the wife of his former enemy, and some 100 LF officials.
“I will at the first opportunity try to meet with Geagea, even in jail.”
